Zoning Flashcards
1
Q
Authority to Zone
A
- doesn’t come automatically - ultimate source usually statute
2
Q
Zoning
A
- calls for comprehensive plan - need not be in writing, can be implicit in zoning ordinance
3
Q
Local Zoning Laws
A
- most common form of public regulation designed to regulate neighborhood effects and externalities
- two broad types: Euclidean and planned unit developments
4
Q
Board of Zoning Appeals
A
- hears appeals from officials’ denial of building permits
- hears requests for variances
- hears requests for special exceptions
5
Q
Zoning - Variances
A
- more discretionary - might deal w/ cases of unnecessary hardship
- can often be granted by administrators or zoning board of appeals
6
Q
Zoning - Special Exceptions
A
- based on specific criteria in the zoning ordinance - they’re permitted as of right (not discretionary, unlike variances) but you have to meet the specific criteria set out in the ordinance
7
Q
Village of Euclid v. Ambler Realty Co. - Significance
A
- the Supreme Court case that upheld the constitutionality of local zoning ordinances
- in upholding zoning ordinances against constitutional attack, SCOTUS expressly recognized zoning designed to minimize nuisance-like incompatibilities
- also indicated protection of the single-family home was the dominant objective
8
Q
Euclidean Zoning
A
- starts w/ map of local community -> neighborhoods get marked off in zones having different types of land uses (industrial, commercial, residential, etc)
- individual parcels are restricted to uses permitted in their zone
9
Q
Cumulative Zoning vs. Noncumulative
A
- cumulative means uses ranked in a hierarchy from most to least intensive, + can devote one’s land to the designated use plus any less intensive uses
- noncumulative - only the designated use in your zone is permitted
10
Q
Village of Euclid - Facts
A
- Ambler’s land got zoned in a way that excluded industrial uses from a large part of it -> reduced the land’s value to 1/4 what it would be as all industrial
- ordinance was challenged framed as a due process claim (although likely these days would say takings) -> Ambler said the mere existence of the ordinance invaded constitutionally protected property rights
11
Q
Requirements for Constitutional Zoning Under Euclid
A
- not arbitrary or unreasonable,
- okay as long as they have some rational relation to public health, safety, morals, or general welfare.
12
Q
Zoning and Preventing Nuisances
A
- theoretically designed to prevent nuisance, but also odd b/c implying certain uses would be a nuisance w/o actually litigating it
- designed to prevent nuisance-like behavior, but doesn’t rest on any actual finding of nuisance
13
Q
Village of Euclid - Exclusionary Aspect
A
- judge referred to apartment buildings as “parasites” (notion that apartment buildings in and of themselves are nuisances - problematic)
- zoning scheme had an exclusionary aspect to it -> class anxiety involved, income + racial discrimination happening through zoning
- hard to separate out discrimination from legitimate aims of zoning (ex: traffic and density concerns often cited to rule out apartment buildings)
14
Q
Nonconforming Uses
A
- happens when there’s a property that’s being used in a certain way when the zoning scheme is implemented + the use conflicts w/ the zoning
- theoretically, you wouldn’t be allowed to start doing it, but you can keep doing it b/c you were already there
15
Q
Nonconforming Uses - Competing Treatments
A
- constitutionally protected in some states as “vested rights”
- permanently grandfathered in in some communities
- other communities give finite period to continue operating before need to adopt conforming use or abandon
